


Dancing with Somebody

by pastel_reptiles



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: F/M, Female pronouns, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, aftermath of the halloween party, and I'm just trying not to get to the big kiss scene, but its not intense don't worry, jakes halloween party, jeremy is a dick for a while but makes up his poor manners, jeremy's squip mentioned, mention of depression, mention of the savage that is wendys, moments that seem romantic but in reality are platonic, possible smut later on?????, reader - Freeform, wink wonk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:15:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12028908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel_reptiles/pseuds/pastel_reptiles
Summary: After an encounter with a stranger who dragged him out of the bathroom and into the safety of a Wendys, Michael cant help but stop thinking of her. Their relationship grows stronger over the next few weeks, making him feel better about everything, even the Jeremy situation. After your school is saved with the help of some cheap outdated soda in the back of a Spencers, and the idea of college on your mind as well as homework still in range, is it okay to keep this stranger as the conductor on your train of thought?





	1. Beginning in the bathroom

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick Author's Note (you can skip if you just want to read the story):
> 
> I do not own "Be more Chill", and the original idea belongs to Ned Vizzini. The musical version of this belongs to Joe Tracz and Joe Iconis, and I have no affiliation with any of the multiple creators. None of this fic belongs in any of the two canon versions of "Be More Chill" (the musical or book). 
> 
> Another authors note, but important:
> 
> The first chapter is told in the view of the reader, aka you. I'm not having any of that (Y/N's POV) on one sentence and then switch it over to (Michael's POV) because I have the worst pet peeve for stating who's point of view it is when you can just write it out with context clues. A few chapters will be told in the Reader's point of view, but I'll change it to Michael sometimes, and maybe someone else???? But you'll be able to tell.
> 
> The story takes place in 2014, since the book was written in 2004 and based on 10 years later into the future, so I would think its based off that year. The location of the story is also taking place in Red Bank like how they did it in the play, since I think they intended it to be in New Jersey.

"I really should've worn something heavier..." Chloe complained as she walked through the door with you, Brooke and Jenna. Yes, dressing up as a sexy baby in a fake diaper with no leggings and a bonnet wasn't the best idea, but Chloe just had to do it. Jenna chuckled as her blonde friend shivered, and opened the door which welcomed them to the warm air, even though Chloe was still shaking. As you all walked in, stepping on the now dirty rug (which you were sure Jake's parents would beat his ass for getting dirty), you could hear music, already drunk teenagers, and Brooke telling Chloe over everything ear deafening, "Well its not my problem you wanted to be a slutty baby with no onesie!" with a clear annoyance in her voice. You made sure to give your jacket to Chloe, knowing it would be at least somewhere below 50 at night, but she must've left it in the car; it wasn't on any of you girls, and you seriously had to remember to get it before you left. Like Chloe told the group before they arrived, "whatever you leave behind is now mine". And you didn't want to see if she wasn't kidding. That jacket was an early birthday present for yourself, and cost you half of what you earned from work. You hoped to get into the car before the girls did when the party ends, because chances are they'll leave you behind and you'll have to call an Uber or something. No, the four of you weren't best friends, but you were somewhere near that. You were friends with Chloe back in kindergarten, and maybe Jenna. Brooke came along one day in first grade, and she joined the group of friends. But overtime, you all faded apart. Well, except for you and Jenna. Jenna kept in touch with you all throughout the 8th grade by texting after getting your number after school when your rides were late. You and Jenna have been keeping up for a while, and as much as you felt Brooke hated you, she let you hang out with them for a while. Being glad Brooke liked you, Jenna happily invited you to the party, as she wanted to hang out with you again. It was a mystery of why Brooke liked you now when she didn't even breath the same air as you in freshmen year. But, you did manage to become prettier, even without makeup, and you never saw the girls all throughout high school until now. Speaking of those girls, they now all spread out; Chloe was the first to leave, walking over to a group of boys to flirt and chat. Jenna and Brooke must've wandered off too, as they were out of your sight. You sighed, relived the girls were enjoying themselves, and that you were out of their range for a while; any longer with them would get some boys to trample you trying to get to the girls and possibly you. You walked towards the refreshment table, pushing some people out of your way, and nearly tripping over someone dressed up as a ninja turtle like you, only dressed as Leonardo. You however were dressed as Donatello. You sighed as the purple mask began slipping, causing you to tie it tighter and even double tying it. God, were you thirsty all of a sudden. Jake said there would be drinks, right? Of course there would be, it was right next to you when you turned. You looked at the table and spotted only booze. Where did Jake get all of this from? It was probably him and Rich walking into the liquor store with some fake IDs and buying a mountain of Coors and- was that a Fireball bottle on the table? How did he managed to get his hands on that, and was he even going to drink it? You didn't want to know how he got it, and just made your way over to the open fridge, with a scratched up sign that said 'HANDS OFF!' written neatly in a black sharpie. It was probably from his mom, since you have never seen him write that neatly. As much as you hated it, the sign was starting to look...crappier...by the second. You made sure no one was looking, then quickly threw the paper out in the near black bag. You didn't want Jake thinking you'd stay to clean up his mess, or that you were trying to ruin the party with a fight if it was HIS writing. The last thing you needed was to come home late with bruises all over your face, a bloody nose and teared skin. You especially didn't want anyone home to clean you up, as you liked to clean your own wounds. Your first wound you cleaned was a small scratch, which you cleaned up easily, and your second one was after you had gotten into a fight. When you let someone touch your injuries, you had to go to the hospital to get taken care of, because one of the wounds got infected. And to this day you clean yourself. As you looked around, you spotted Jake climbing up the steps with that overly excited theatre girl. You had to admit she was cute. You went to her last play where she played as Juliet, and you liked her performance more than you'd like school plays in general. As you looked at them walk up the steps, you heard Jake bang on the door and scream for Jeremy and someone else. You couldn't tell over the screaming and music and decided to ignore it. Going back to your phone, you stepped by the fridge where someone was already. They were wearing what seemed to be a sexy skeleton outfit; she wore black leggings with bones on them and a dress that marked where her torso was, as well as minimum skeleton paint. You asked them if you were allowed to take food from the fridge, in which they ignored. After a minute of standing, they went back into the crowd after their supposed boyfriend in a blue body suit with the hood zipped down came to grab them. You stood by the fridge, checking your phone a couple of times, and waited for someone to just walk to the fridge. As much as you hated an open fridge, who cared? Jake's parents would pay it off easily. Plus you were eying that turkey for a while now as well as some of that Pepsi. No way in hell were you going to drink some cheap beer, any alcohol of the sort, or even that type of beer in general. You were now officially bored and hungry as hell. You should stop by a McDonalds or something on the way home. Maybe take a drive up to Little Silver or Shrewsbury with someone. Opening your phone, you swipe through your apps, checking Instagram, playing some different games you downloaded, and just waiting for someone to stop by that fridge so you could eat something other than expired cupcakes on the table next to the drinks. As you send a snap to one of your friends, you heard someone banging on the bathroom door repeatedly, and enjoying themselves. It seemed like a girl and guy were slamming their fists against it. As soon as you saw them stop after what seemed like forever, you made your way over to the bathroom door, since everyone was now moving in the opposite direction. You eye some of the people moving, some dancing harder and turning up the music. You made sure no one was by the door and walked to it, knocking on it. 

"Hey, you okay in there?" You ask from the other side of the door. You could hear the person in there recollect them self, and wait a few seconds. You were ready to give up or call again since they didn't respond and thought it was just you hearing things. Suddenly, the familiar turn of the doorknob creeks at last, and you see a boy with a set of pointed circular frames, messed black hair, and a black sweater, with the words on it spelled out to read 'C REEP S', the C on his right arm and the S on his other. The shirt looks between either home-made or bought in a store and designed poorly. From what it looks, he was crying from the look of the whites in his eyes pink. Or was he just high? A small sniffle seemed to disapprove your theory of smoking anything. You asked once more if everything was alright. He paused, staring at the ground, making you worried. You hated seeing anyone upset, especially in big crowds; it made them feel smaller than they all ready were in sizes mentally and physically. He shook his head no, and you placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"You want to...get out of here? If you're not okay you can leave with me." You said to him calmly. He nodded immediately and you took him with you outside. One arm was wrapped around him, and vice versa for him. You both managed to make your way through the large crowd of intoxicated teenagers, and pushed the door open, as it seemed like no one bothered in closing it. You and the 'CREEPER' boy began walking, past at least three teens who had managed to start a small fire in the grass and run around it for fun. It was obvious they were drunk. If that got out of control, Jake's parents would kick him out of the country all together. As your feet both hit the asphalt street, no cars in sight, you make your way over to yours, pulling out your keys. You pressed the unlock button on the remote and follow the sound of the two beeps, and the lights that flashed for a minute. As you take your keys, jingling them carelessly, you mentally slap yourself; you can't drive anywhere without your crew. You quickly text Brook, telling her you were leaving, and if she wanted to come or find a ride home. There wasn't anything you could do, and you were already in the car, getting things sorted out with both Brook and the boy now sitting inside your Grey Volkswagen GTI. You hoped to god he wasn't intoxicated at all, since you didn't want throw up on your seats, especially after someone else threw up all over them once. You feel the boy touch your hand gently, and you give him a reassuring look, telling him everything will be okay with a look of your (E/C) eyes, and a upturn of the right corner of your purple colored lips. You take off the little bandana, giving it to him as he begins to cry again. Over the middle console, you feel a buzz in your pocket, in which you secretly check. Brook finally texted you back, telling you she'll get an Uber for the three of them, just as long as you paid her back tomorrow. You respond with a yes with your dominant hand, while your other is holding the other boy. With a smile, you read the text and ask him "You wanna get some Wendys?". He nods and chuckles, in which you turn the key and start driving, waving goodbye to a now passed out kid who retreated from the small and now put out fire in your head. You hope things go okay for Jake, because if you were his mom or dad and came home to two kids carrying another passed out kid across the lawn, you'd be furious. You'd be even more furious to see a kid throwing up into your front lawn, and then walk back inside the house. 

Driving, the boy sighs and reclines the seats a bit, smiling. You ask if its okay to roll down the windows, since your car always finds a way to heat up even in the coldest weather and you don't want you both to get heatstroke. You could use a car like this in an apocalyptic winter. He says he doesn't mind, and in which you roll down the windows, letting both of your hair fly free and wildly. He closes his eyes and places his glasses in his hand in which he rests on his stomach, ignoring everything, even the terrible scent of gasoline New Jersey held. God, you could never stand it, even as a kid. His phone goes off multiple times, text messages, phone calls and just notifications from social media. As he's about to check it and pick it up, he groans and throws it in the glove compartment after shutting it off and going back to his peaceful sleep. Driving down the multiple streets, you finally make a turn into the Wendys drive through. You shake him awake, in which he hums. 

"What do you want to eat...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." You tell him awkwardly. You really should've caught it before you left the party; for all you know he could be a famous serial killer you just took to Wendys. He sits up and introduced himself as Michael Mell first and repeating the question again, you order your meals and head into the parking lot to relax and eat. This is calming; just sitting, listening to his choice of music on the radio and becoming full of junk. To be honest, he was really starting to get you into Bob Marley now. Looking over to Michael, you smile as he sings along and closes his eyes while he foes so, and look up at the little but some dots in the sky; you can clearly make out the little dipper. During your midst of checking on Michael, you happened to catch a glimpse of the clock out of the corner of your eye. It was almost twelve o'clock, and you'd be dead meat if you were home later than one. Turning the key again to start up the car, you put it into gear, and drive out of the parking lot. At twelve seventeen, you made your way to Michael's house after following his directions once back in Red Bank. The tires stopped in front of his house, and you wished him a good night out of the drivers window when he got out. Before he could walk back up to the house, you added him onto your Snapchat, telling him to send her anything in case he needed anything. He nodded, wished you goodnight, in which you replied the same. Checking the time once more, you drove home. 

By the time you arrived home, it was about twelve thirty, since you did happen to stop at a couple of red lights and drop Michael off at home. As you pulled your keys out of the slot, you wondered where he would be tomorrow. Sure, you've seen him around freshman year and some during your Sophomore year probably, but never once have you seen him during Junior. Leaning back in your chair, you picked up your phone, checking the time after your car turned off and hurried out of the car, closing the door as you grabbed everything you needed and walked up to the door. Taking the silver keys from the chain of three keys you had, one for the house and the other two as car keys (a backup in case you lost the first one), you unlocked the house after fumbling with one of them and slipped inside the house, pushing the screen door open and walking quietly to your bedroom. Even though you weren't in trouble, you couldn't help but feel guilty; you rarely ever came home later than nine, especially on a school night. Once managing to sneak into your room without waking anyone up, you slipped into your pajamas and fell into the sheets under. 

You couldn't help but feel like something was wrong, because when you fell asleep, you heard police sirens and ambulance ones as well, which quickly faded off into the distance, leaving you time to sleep and wonder what they were chasing after.


	2. The Day After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the party, you have some questions about this Michael Mell and Jeremy Heere, and how they got into a fight. Is it something you should be a part of or should you leave it to Michael to solve?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter! I just want to say thank you to the readers, and the one Kudos I got recently! Your views and Kudos make my day after I get home from school. This chapter takes place the day after Jake's party.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. That's all you're hearing as of now and have been hearing for five minutes. Someone was trying to call you, and it seemed urgent as hell. You groan, your messy hair sticking to your face, making you push it aside and back to its rightful place in your mountain of hair. You take your phone off the charger, and rub your eyes to see better. 

10 missed calls from 'Jenna'. You groan, and pick your phone up and check the time before she could call again. Two in the morning, Jenna? You were thinking of what could've happened last night: Jenna broke her leg, Chloe got back together with Jake, Brooke kissed that guy she liked (you think his name was Josh or something. It started with a J), someone died, someone got drunk and drove to New York to sit on top of the empire state building, or maybe she wanted to know what happened to you last night. Jenna didn't know where you went after all. You just called Brooke to tell her about leaving with Michael. Oh god what if she thought you went to sleep with him? You now began getting nervous as the phone rang and buzzed in your hand. You picked up in between the third buzz and answered in a tired but worried voice. 

"Did you see Rich?" She asked. You told her no, and said you went to get something to eat somewhere near ten or eleven. Jenna then explained everything to you. She told you that he was acting strange and made everyone feel uncomfortable. You were about to say that he shouldn't of drank that much, but she could already tell you were about to. Jenna said in an excited but serious tone, as if she was trying to make her way out of a lie and said that he wasn't drunk. You asked if he was high. She said no, and that he barely even touched anything that night, and now you can't blame anything he did on alcohol or pot because he didn't go near it. You were now desperate to have her tell you what she was talking about; blame him for what?

"Rich set a fire, and he burned down the house!" Jenna said excited over the phone. You paused. Oh god. Jake's parents weren't just going to kick him out of New Jersey or America. Jake's parents were going to send him in a rocket ship and set it to five galaxies away, maybe farther until they were satisfied. You asked if Jake and Rich were alright, and where it happened. Jenna told you she wasn't sure, since she was outside the house when it happened, but she saw people running out and got pushed away by the crowd, so she couldn't tell if they were still inside. From what she heard from a boy who was in the house, Rich was in the hospital now. "Check Twitter! Everyone is posting about it under the tag '#Richsetafire'!" she said before hanging up on you. You were now worried for the sake of the people who could've been stuck inside the house. What if someone died? What if someone had burn marks all over them? You could only imagine what it was like before typing in your passcode, going on Twitter and checking the tag everyone was talking about. 

You read through all of the posts, wide-eyed. From what you read, here was the story: Rich burnt the house for no reason (someone said because he was gay, someone else said because he wanted to move, so there was no clear answer), and him and Jake were in the hospital. Turning to your messages, you text both Rich and Jake, asking if they're okay, and if you should visit them. Neither answered, but they'll have to see the text at some point. You were a caring person and worried about everyone who was nice to you, or just who you knew was good hearted. You would make sure to visit them if they let you, and you'd bring something for them both. Jake's parents weren't home yet, so they probably wouldn't be there until they hear the news on TV. The same would go for Rich and his family. 

Checking the time once more, you realized you had been scrolling through texts, posts on Twitter and Instagram, and sending streaks to people on Snapchat for three hours. Now it was five in the morning, causing you to spring up from bed and get ready. You quickly took a shower and when you stepped out after fifteen minutes you dressed yourself with perfume and deodorant as well as something for your skin, got dressed, made yourself breakfast before resting for a bit. You scrolled through your phone again, checking to see if Rich or Jake saw your text or were typing. Jake saw the text, and Rich was typing until the three bubbles disappeared. You groaned; you always hated when someone did that. You turned your phone off, setting it facing down on the table you were eating on and walked to the tv in the next room over.

Grabbing the remote and sitting down, you turned on the tv and turned to 'News 5'. You were worried about what else was happening in the world, but most importantly about Jake's house and if anyone had died. Finally, the female news anchor had gone to the story about Jake's house. You held your breath as you heard her state what had happened, and mention the Twitter tags. 

"No fatalities have been stated, but two were injured while sources say they ran out of the house. They are currently resting in Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center while firemen search for anyone who might have been left in the house." She said. You let out a sigh of relief and listen to the rest of the television before hearing the TV go to break, calling on a random New Jersey town (they never seemed to call yours) and went to commercial. As you turned off the television, you stood up, walking to the table and sitting down while checking your phone again. Two new text messages from Jake. Finally. They both said that you could visit, and asked if you could bring some food; the hospital food didn't taste so good. You texted Jake back a yes, checked the time and got up, walked to the bathroom, brushed your teeth and hair and left with your bag in hand. 

You unlocked your car, threw your bag in the passenger seat, and turned it on. But you paused. Looking at the bag, you remembered Michael. You went onto Snapchat, checking through the stories and found his username, 'Mell.Cell'. On his story, you could just see him post a picture about gaming, but that was it. You wondered what games he played. Probably classics like Zelda and other Nintendo games. What gamer didn't like Nintendo? Although you didn't play games as much now, you remember playing some as a kid; Mario was your favorite. You would invite some friends over and you'd all play Mario Party once in a while. You really needed to invite someone over to play something. Maybe Michael if you got closer. You would probably see him today somewhere, so you'd ask if you could hang with him during lunch if he wasn't with anyone. 

You snapped yourself out of your daydream about Michael, started to back out of the driveway and head to the high school. Traveling through traffic wasn't that hard, since you always arrived to school early to get your spot, study for any upcoming tests, finish homework you didn't the night before or just to relax in the quiet of the school. Things were never quiet, as someone was always screaming (mostly Freshmen), being thrown against the locker or even teachers chatting in the halls. As you pulled up to the school, the red digital sign out front saying "SENIORS: Help your underclassmen discover college! Volunteers needed!" on top of the "100 years of excellence" wording, you parked your car, grabbed your bag, fixed your hair and walked out. Pressing the lock button on your key after closing the door and headed towards the main door. You checked the time on your phone once more; it was currently seven o'seven. Opening the door, you walked directly towards the lunch room and sat down while you waited for more students to come in and start the day. 

You were in the middle of typing up some of an essay for next week's English class, when you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. Picking it up, you read Rich finally text you back. You had originally texted him 'i just heard what happened...are you okay? You want me to bring you something and visit?'. He texted back 'I'm fine. Just some scratches.', followed by 'Can you bring in chocolate or something? Hospital food sucks ass.'. You chuckled and texted him back that Jake thought that too, and that you'd visit him as soon as possible. Going back into your essay, you began typing once more, and heard the morning bell rang, causing you to close your laptop and head to your first class elective, Life Skills. 

The day went on like normal; freshmen walking slow as ever in front of everyone, people yelling and talking, some couples kissing in the hallway (some were more discreet about it though), and the bells that rang for lunch had finally happened. You were grabbing lunch from the cafeteria, when you suddenly spot Michael sitting by himself at a table. You look around, and decide to sit where you could see Michael. You were sure someone would sit next to him. If no one did then you would. After ten minutes had passed, you saw him put up his hood and adjust his headphones. No one was sitting with him. You picked up your bag and walked to Michael, that was until you were stopped by Brooke. She hugged you, and asked for you to come with her to her locker quickly. You were hesitant, but agreed. If Michael needed you you'd get a notification from him. Plus it would be a quick ten minutes, right? Agreeing, you left the lunchroom with Brooke and made your way down the hallways. 

As you walked, Brooke kept talking about Chloe. It wasn't good from what you could tell. 

"So apparently she was planning on sleeping with Jeremy! But then, Jake comes upstairs and totally busts them, and then Jeremy runs off into the bathroom. I can't believe I wanted to sleep with him, ugh!" She stated. That might've been why Michael was in the bathroom where you found him. His phone was blowing up, probably from this Jeremy guy. Maybe he was trying to apologize to Michael? Whatever the reason was, it was certain that Jeremy had to be one of those texts last night. Or Michael was just popular as hell, and you had no idea. 

Finally arriving at Brooke's locker, she takes out a notebook for her next blocks, and you both head back. You ask if Jeremy was around anywhere, as you'd 'like to give him a piece of my mind' for both reasons. Brooke said she hadn't seen him all day and she was glad she didn't or else she'd do something drastic. Just as you two were about to head back into the cafeteria, you saw Michael walk out, headphones still on, focusing on his phone for a minute and your phone buzzing as he put his away. You went back into the cafeteria with Brooke for a bit to sit down and check your phone, knowing and hoping it was Michael; he seemed pretty upset. You were relieved it was Michael and not someone else; he looked like he needed someone. Excusing yourself from the table quickly, you take your bag, go down the hall and check the snap that read "meet me by A203". You started walking, taking the stairs and traveling to the second A hallway. Finally making a turn, you spot Michael curled up and crying. You quickly make your way to him and stand next to him. 

"Michael?" You ask sitting down next to him. He suddenly hugs you tightly, as if you were going to leave him. You sighed and hugged him back, feeling him cry. You pet his hair underneath his hood and ask him what was wrong. He explained how he just needs someone and he doesn't know why he was crying in the first place. You understand completely, holding him tighter and ask if he wants you to do anything with him. You have a teacher next period who's always late, and you could walk with him to his next class. He shakes his head no and just wants to cut class entirely. You nod, and even though it was risky, you would do anything to make him feel better right now. You've been in the same spot and it sucks. 

Going downstairs, you both go through the door that is out of sight from cameras and teachers. You found the door during your Freshman year when one of your Senior friends had you skip school with him that year. Making sure no one was walking nearby, you quickly take his hand and walk through the door and hop into his car this time. Turning on his car, you both escape successfully and drive into the nearby parking lot; it was far enough from the school, but the closest one where you could walk back if you wanted. Sitting in the parking lot for a while, you hold his hand tighter as he cries. 

You were glad you skipped school for this guy. He was a good kid from what you could tell, and doesn't deserve this. But its always the nice kids who get the worst, isn't it? Looking at his hand, and rubbing your thumb against it, he looks at you and hugs you once more over the middle console. You hug him back, rubbing his back, and hushing him, telling him everything's going to be alright, but you weren't sure if things were. 

Finally checking the time and hearing the school bell ring, you both drive to Michael's house, and end up playing video games to make him feel better. Guess you finally got the wish of playing games with someone today.


	3. What's This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael is finally at peace with the world; his best friend and him are finally back playing video games, (Y/N) is watching and the cold season has just sprung. Everything seems to be going according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after The Play; maybe somewhere in late November or early December? I also want to thank the readers for the views and Kudos i received today! Kudos from everyone is appreciated! This chapter will be short since I need to prepare for school stuff (FRENCH IS SO HARD!!!!!!). Also, some slight platonic poly shipping here.

"Zombie!" you scream as you points at the screen. Michael quickly uses his controller to turn around his persona and shots the remaining zombies. You clutch your hands together in a tight grip, and hold it up to your face, sweating like the two boys despite the winter weather outside. Jeremy moves back and forth, hitting the buttons and vigorously moving the thumbsticks left and right. Finally, having enough energy for their special move, they both activate the combo: up up, left, down, X, Y, X, X. Hitting the triggers in the back, they hold their breath as they wait for the combo to appear.Both of their individual screens light up with green on Michael's character and blue on Jeremy's. The zombies fade away as soon as a line is drawn between each of their individual bodies, and the main characters high-five before the screen goes black. 

"Level 9 completed". 

Jeremy jumps and cheers as well as Michael who grabs your hand and pulls me into the hug. You all jump in Jeremy's room, practically shaking the house with all this movement. Mr. Heere even came up to ask if everything was alright. You were still surprised to see him with pants on. Michael was forced to introduce you to him when he came over to his house the day you both skipped classes. You were...stunned to see Jeremy's dad didn't wear pants. But, all in all he was a good guy and you wouldn't forget his ridiculous but helpful saying "when you love someone you put your pants on for them". You and Jeremy said things were going fine, in which he chuckled. 

"Alright. I'm heading to the store so I'll be back Jeremy. Don't get too rowdy!" He said before shutting the door. You all parted and got back on the floor. Sighing with thanks, Jeremy got up after hearing his dad leave and went downstairs to get some food to eat. You and Michael stayed in the room together, chatting. For at least a month, you Jeremy and Michael had become friends. Sure, you were still friends with Jenna and Chloe and Brooke, but you loved spending so much time with Jeremy and Michael that you had forgotten plans. They want to head up to the mall? Sorry, Michael wants you to come over. Head to PinkBerry? Sure but after you get home from Michael's. Party? Michael wants you to hang with him for the day. In fact, most of the stuff you did was with Michael. Jeremy rarely ever called you to hang out unless Michael was there. You were sure it was just a coincidence that Michael was with him everywhere he went; they were best friends after all. You thought nothing of it and gladly continue to chat with Michael. Yawning, you ask if you can sit down and lie on his shoulder. Michael nodded and you placed your head on his shoulder. You and Michael didn't mind the personal bubble being popped every so often. You've been closer than this; you've sat in his lap, he's given you piggyback rides and carried you (that strong motherfucker...when did he do lifting?), and you've held hands. Nothing was romantic about this and even Jeremy did this with Michael.

Michael wraps an arm around you, asking if you're okay. You nod and just place your head deeper into his shoulder, and ask if you can lie down with him. He agrees and before you know it, you're fast asleep in Michael's arms, head on his chest, arms over his shoulders as you snore. Feeling tired himself, Michael yawned, and then heard the door open. Jeremy has a plate of food in his hand while yawning and looks at Michael. He smiles and asks what was going on. Looking to Jeremy, he waves tiredly, and explains in a small voice that (Y/N) grew tired and laid down with him. To this response, Jeremy is now lying down. Michael chuckles as Jeremy positions himself like the sleeping girl on Michael's other side and asks what he's doing.

"I request the finest invite dipped in pig's blood to this, how you say, slumBA partee." He says in a fake royalty voice. Michael chuckles, not loud enough to wake (Y/N) up but just loud enough to let Jeremy know he was laughing. Michael tells him "it would be an honor. Which pig my fine man?" in the same fake royalty voice. They chuckle and soon Jeremy is asleep as well. Michael sighs and stares up at the ceiling. For days, Michael couldn't get sleep. He was always uncomfortable, he always fell asleep in class, and he'd only stay up to play video games to try and tire himself out. For the first time in what seemed to be decades, Michael manages to fall asleep with both of his best friends in his arms. 

Hours pass by and when Mr. Heere comes upstairs, he hears no movement in Jeremy's room other than humming. He thinks nothing of it and walks along, back into his room and continuing work. Inside, Michael is just staring at (Y/N). The he stares back at Jeremy. Neither of them were awake and he was growing frustrated. Suddenly, (Y/N) moves a bit and wakes up, stretched which then wakes up Jeremy. He groans and wonders what happened. Michael tells him he was asleep and (Y/N) accidentally woke him up. Jeremy yawns and holds her hand, shaking it tiredly. She chuckles as he whines and complains about still being tired. Feeling her phone buzz all of a sudden, she picks it up with her free hand and tells them she has to leave. The both whine and ask why.

"My mom is starting to think I'm doing crack or something." She said. Hugging both the boys goodbye, she leaves and walks out to her car, turning it on and driving off down her road to her house, where her mother is waiting on the couch. She waves to her and makes her way to her room, where she is bombarded with texts from Chloe about wanting to go out. (Y/N) groans and picks out her options. Go with Chloe and become even more tired, or don't and raise the suspicion of sleeping with Michael and Jeremy. After a long three seconds, she groans and says she'll meet her up at the mall in a bit. Chloe sends three emojis of a smiling yellow face, a girl with a crown and a heart, all topped off with two exclamation points. You loved how cute she got with her texts.

Putting your jacket on, a pair of jeans, a crop top, and finally your red converse, you head downstairs with keys in hand and tell your mom goodbye. She asks where you're going now in an annoyed voice in which you respond with your truthful answer. 

"Show me the text she sent you." She asked. Taking your phone out, you pull up your messages, show her the screen and even the time it was sent; 5:00. The time was now 5:12. She hums in agreement, and asks when you'll be home. You tell her around eight if Chloe doesn't stop to stare at the new clothes in Forever 21 and proceed to spend five hours trying stuff on again. Your mom nods, tells you to text her if you get home later than what you said, and lets you walk out the door. You walk out to the driveway, and stopping by your car, you spot Michael's coming down the street. You smile and wave, since he only ever comes down your street when he wants to hang out with you. Stopping at the end of your driveway, he says hi and asks where you're going. 

"The mall. Chloe wanted me to hang out today even though I don't want to spend forever there." You groan. Michael nods, and takes something out of his car; its a small box wrapped with a bow and poor wrapping paper. He must have done it last minute or something. You take it and ask what it's for. You were thankful he thought of you and got you something, but was also nervous if it was a prank or something. He tells you that he wasn't sure when your birthday was and wanted to get you something before the year ended for your birthday. You thank him and tell him your birthday, him nodding and promising to get you something that day as well. Saying goodbye, he waves goodbye and leaves, you in his rear view mirror. You walk back to your car, looking down at your gift and smile. Unlocking your car, you get inside and place the gift in your lap. Breathing out slowly, you open the package and see and cute red hoodie like Michael's, the only difference being the two white stripes on the arms. You smile, leave it in the box and put it on the floor of the passenger's seat. Finally starting up your car, you drive yourself to the mall, and keep thinking about the sweater even when Brooke goes to the foodcourt and Jenna enters the shoe store. 

Thank god Chloe didn't take forever at Forever 21.


	4. The Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Michael are well into summer, and with Jeremy gone and upstate, you two spend more time together. Mainly getting high.

The summer was going great so far. At least you hoped it was for you and Michael. Jeremy had gone up to Old Tappan to visit some family. They didn't live in Old Tappan, but rather one of the four (or was it five? Jeremy didn't know either) towns that went to the high school there. From what he sent you two, it had only a fraction of history left in it. One of the pictures was by the Washington house, which was very roomy that day considering that it was just Jeremy, his dad, his two aunts and uncles and his three cousins. You and Michael wished you could've been there to see it, since you loved the scenery and since Michael loved hanging out with Jeremy. But that didn't mean he didn't get to hang out with you. The day Jeremy went away, you and Michael hung out by just sitting in his basement and getting high. It was your first and high Michael laughed as you got new to it. Since you didn't know how to use a bong, Michael just gave you a joint. Were they called joints? You were pretty sure that's the nickname for it. 

But the day carried on as usual. You and Michael were sitting in the bean bags downstairs alone, Michael beating you. You laughed when Michael fell out of his seat but was still winning, and from your high. You both agreed on playing Mario Kart since it was a softcore game you and Michael could agree on and nothing you could 'ruin' for Jeremy. You were always worried that when you played games with Michael, Jeremy would feel left out so you always stayed away from games they played and more kids and teens games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, Sonic, the family friendly stuff. Halfway through your second lap, your stomach growled, and whined. 

"Michaelll...I'm hungry." You complained. Michael laughed while still on the ground. 

"Is this a plot...wait....pl..pllll!!!" He said stupidly. Looks like Michael was trying to pronounce a word. You laughed and while he was distracted, you took lead, smiling and said "never mind~" in a thankful yet teasing voice. Michael groaned, his stomach now growling and pausing the game for both of you. Laying your head down in the beanbag, you smiled for no reason. But soon, it faded away as soon as Michael picked you up by your foot and dragged you until you were at the bottom of the stairs. He helped you up and guided you carefully up the stairs, sometimes needing to hold onto you since he was swaying from laughing. Finally making your way into the kitchen, you both went into the cabinets to search for food, when Michael remembered he kept a secret stash of brownies in the hidden side door in his room; the door just opened to the inside of the roof, and was pretty roomy. He then went up the stairs with you, using you for support again and walked into his room. Stepping aside, he went for the door, grabbing out the box and then opening it to bring out a pack of month old store bought brownies. 

You two sat down to eat the brownies one by one, and laying down once they were all gone. Michael's legs were hanging over the edge of the bed, the rest of his body on the mattress while your chest and stomach were on the bed and your knees supporting the rest of you on the ground while kneeling. Your arms tapped Michael, and he hummed. You stuck out your arms and grunted, telling him 'lift me onto the bed I'm too high to support myself physically and mentally'. He took your hand, and pulled you up, now your feet dangling over the edge. Closing your eyes, you could hear Michael yawn and from there you fell asleep for a while. That was until Michael's mom came home. Luckily, Michael came down from his high, took a shower, and got dressed. His mom didn't come into the room at all, so you were both safe from being caught smoking. It's not that his mom didn't want him smoking pot. Michael has Glaucoma, which was where his vision is fucked up. This was the reason why Michael wears glasses because of the treatment his doctor gave him, as well as the recreational weed he gave as well (you were surprised to find out New Jersey legalized it). Michael's mom was for him smoking pot, but against him abusing it. Michael was just happy his mom didn't suspect a thing. 

 

When he finally woke you up, you were only just coming down from your high and asked if he had anymore pot. He shook his head no, even though you knew he was lying, and called him out. He chuckled, saying you had enough for the night; you practically smoked the entire joint downstairs (which was good in a sense, because when his mom goes down to vacuum she won't find it). You groaned, getting up and pacing around the room for a bit, trying to focus and then realize what you were doing. Sitting back down, you take out your phone and see the multiple texts from the girls, some from Jeremy (checking up, again along with some pictures) and social media notifications. As you placed it down, you received a text from Jenna who sent you a picture. Opening your phone, you look at the cute sweater she sent you. It was like the one Michael gave you, but pink and had arrows instead of lines on the sleeves. It also had a hood. In the picture, she was holding it up, as well as some patches; a bunny patch from Overwatch (you would probably have to tell her that since she probably thought it was cute), a unicorn, and lesbian flag. Another text was sent, asking for you to help her with sewing as well as help her pick out more patches. 

You called your mom once getting down from your high and told her that you were staying at Michael's for the night. She agreed, and told you to be home by 12 tomorrow. She would pick you up if you were later than 3:30, which was kind of the time you normally woke up during the summer time. Finally getting some time after your high, you texted everyone back, texting Jenna first. You told her that you were sorry you missed her text, saying you fell asleep. You then told her that you'd be happy to help her tomorrow. Next was Jeremy, who had asked how everything was. You answered with the same time, but this time putting quotation marks around 'fell asleep'. He texted you back, saying "oh...how much did you smoke?" which made you laugh. You told him just a joint while Michael smoked out of a bong.

Yawning once more, you looked over to Michael on the bed who had already fell asleep, Controller laying on the table, and phone plugged in next to it. Smiling, you go back to your phone and check the time: 6:37. It was starting to get dark out, but still early for heading in for sleeping like Michael. Staying up for as long as you could before Michael wakes up again, you went into your phone and played some games as well as going onto Tumblr and listening to music as you texted with Jenna and played battleship with Jeremy on the messenger app. So far, they seemed to be the only people texting you. As you finish up your turn and missing Jeremy's ship, Michael wakes up, asks what you're doing until you're both interrupted by his stomach growling. Seemed like the brownies didn't fill up that much. Michael then suggested they go out for a quick snack at Wendys or another fast food restaurant since his mom would be too busy to make dinner and his dad was still away at work. 

The time was 8:50 when you two left for McDonalds and got things off the dollar menu. Sitting and talking in the parking lot, you recognize two cars. The first was Jake Dillinger's car, still a little torn up from the Halloween party that caught on fire last year, but looking good. The other one was a students car who always seemed to park next to you at school. One time you caught them walking out of their car when school started. They had dark red hair and a beautiful dark complexion. And it wasn't anything you'd get from tanning but a pure and genuine melted chocolate vibe. You were amazed how pretty they looked and hoped to be as pretty as them someday. 

Finally, after Michael finishes his sandwich, and you halfway through your snack wrap, he notices you gazing off with an almost worried expression on your face. 

"Everything okay?" He asks you. Catching you out of your gaze, you hum. But then understanding the question, you nodded and told him yes as well as what was on your mind. That person, they way they looked; you were jealous you couldn't be as pretty. You were mad you couldn't be the way they were. You were sad they were better than you. Expressing yourself like this, you sighed and rubbed the corner of your eye, and said you were alright, but felt him grab your hand. 

"Anything you need to say, say it now." He told you smiling. You chuckled, thinking it was ridiculous to say it here in the middle of a McDonald's parking lot. Like, anywhere else would be better but in a parking lot??? Where there was probably throw-up from five years back right where you were sitting??? Not the best place to have a thought on though moment with your best friend. You smiled and shook your head saying everything was off your mind. He smiled, and when you mention Seven-Eleven, he smiled even more and got ecstatic like a little kid going to Disney and getting ice-cream in the same day. Hoping into the passengers side, he buckled up, then let you drive to Seven-Eleven to get a slushy. 

On the way home, you got multiple texts from your mom, a few snaps from snapchat and text from Jeremy, updating your game. He sunk your battleship.  
Clever dude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: writing slushy feels so weird (I called them slurpies when I was a kid and still do)


	5. Been Thinking Too Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you get a call from Michael in the morning, him crying over the phone, you rush to his side to comfort him again, and lead him far away from the bathroom this time.

You woke up with your body stretched out across your bed, your arm dangling over the side with your leg while your other twin pairs clung to the sheets. You wiped drool from your mouth and adjusted your oversized t-shirt, and slid to the bathroom in your favorite socks. Taking care of your hair, your teeth and face, you leave the bathroom and check the date: August 1st. Next month you'd be going back, which made you groan. You didn't even buy supplies. But who uses them anymore? Everyone just uses laptops and two pencils the entire week. But, if you didn't have a binder for a class, the teacher would yell at you. At least thats what would happen if you took math or science. Being a senior next year would be a breeze; mostly electives, no finals, no language department, no english, no math, no science, no stress. Being a senior was like heaven to you in your mind. The districts in New Jersey (so far as you heard) had students do English, History, Math, and Science for three years until their final year where you could drop everything. You were required to take a language for one year, but schools recommend you do it for two years since colleges love students who do more than a year, and since you took your language Freshman and Sophomore year, you were clear for that. 

Thinking back into your Freshman year, you remembered how small you were and noticed how in your Sophomore year the Freshmen were smaller than you. The same went for Junior year, but the freshmen were smaller than the new Sophomores. You couldn't wait to see how small the new ones would be and laugh about it with your friends. You then sat on your bed after messing with your hair for a bit, noticing how soft it was, and thought about college. You would be a freshman in college next year if one of the three dream colleges you wanted to go to accepted you. You couldn't imagine the Seniors and upperclassmen there. But that's college. If anything, the oldest person there would be a mom or dad in their late thirties or early forties going back to school. The youngest would be an advanced fifth grader if the college found one. 

You always thought you'd be the fifth grader one day. Sitting back in fourth grade, you were easily the smartest girl you knew. Sadly you weren't the smartest girl in your class, or the next class that same year when you moved to Red Bank. You lived in New Jersey for most of your life, just more downstate near Trenton and in the Ocean county. Moving one county up wasn't a big deal. The drive was five hours long since you were stuck in traffic, and the drive would've been shorter if your car didn't break down on the highway. You and your family had to wait an hour and a half to get someone to fix the car, and tow the car to your location with you inside the small truck. You remember you didn't sit up front but rather in the back. You felt the highway breeze over your long pre-fifth grade hair, and stared at the car. Since you left at 7:00 in the afternoon, you caught a glimpse of the few stars in the night two hours later. 

And now, seven years into your new home, you were happy you moved. You heard from one of your old friends that two of the other people you used to hang out with were accused of using drugs in their Freshman year, and tried to drag other people down with them. You knew you would've been one of those people, since they had no problem outting you to the teacher one day the you stole a pack of paper. You and your old childhood friend never lost contact and facetimed as much as possible, especially over the summer. But since you were always hanging out with Michael, Jeremy, Christine, Chloe, Brooke, Jenna, Jake, and Rich, you were busy. 

Getting lost in thought, you didn't even hear your phone buzz several times. The next two times, you got suspicious that your phone buzzed. The tenth time, it finally caught your attention. You picked it up, and saw Michael's name. Before you could finish reading the text, he sent you two more, in which you had to go into your phone, You clicked on the messages and read them. Three of them said "please pi ck p" all incorrectly spelled. The fourth one was spelled correctly, and the next ones were more pleads for you to call him. Doing it immediately, not even having memory of pressing the call button on his contact, you waited until it went to voicemail. 

"This is Mell's Cell! Leave a message!" it told you. You called again, and when it didn't pick up, you went back into messages. Your thumb hit the screen and swiped from left to right to see what time the messages were sent. Nearly an hour ago the first six were sent, and the most recent one was ten minutes ago. 

"Shit shit shit shit," you said to yourself as you put on shoes, not caring you had no bra on and no pants, only still in your pajamas and ran out to your car with the keys in hand. You turned the car on, and drove your car down the street. You were sure you broke the speed limit but you couldn't give two fucks, Michael seemed like he was in trouble and you needed to make sure he was alright; you didn't want him to hurt himself anyway possible, and if he did you'd blame yourself. Finally, after five minutes, you knocked on the door. After a minute of no noise in the house, you try moving the knob, but it was locked. If Michael wouldn't answer the door, you took out your phone again and called him. Going to voicemail again, you waited for something. The door to open, a curtain to be pushed aside or even to hear a thud in Michael's room. Anything would give you a sign. Giving up after three minutes, you pick up some rocks on the ground, you throw them at Michael's window, trying to get his attention. After you ran out of rocks, you thought about the basement. If anything he was in there. 

Moving to the other side of the house, you kneel down and see him through the window and knock while calling for him. He has his head in his hands, his bong on the floor but clearly not used yet. He looks up and sees you, his eyes pink from crying. You wave and ask to let you in. He walks up the stairs in which you run back to the front door and wait for him to open. Nervously holding your phone, and your foot moving up and down while shaking. What if he hurt himself? What if he thought you didn't care and didn't want to let you in? You wanted to make sure he was okay at the least and cry on your shoulder if anything was wrong. Finally, the door opened and Michael revealed himself, wearing a Bob Marley shirt you bought him two weeks ago, boxers and socks. He sniffled once before you could hug him, in which he hugged back. 

"I'm sorry I was late, I'm so so so sorry, Michael I promise to make it up to you, are you alright? Why are you crying?" You begin rambling off. You are stopped by Michael who just tells you he needs someone right now. You suspect this is one of his depressive episodes again. You've been there with him for some of them, most of them with Jeremy. This is the fifth time you were alone with him on this, and the twelfth time you saw this. Making a motion to come inside, you do so and sit on the couch in the room next over after you close the door. You feel him lean his head on your shoulder and hold your hand, feeling him break and crash down onto your shoulder. You pet his messy hair, comforting him as best as you could. He grips fiercely at your shirt, then buries his head into your chest. You don't care if he's hurting you at this point, and only care that he feels okay. 

"Hey, it's okay, Mikey. Don't cry," you begin. He lifts up his head a bit to look at you, and you smile at how cute he looks. Chuckling, you continue stroking his hair while he rests his head softly on your shirt and between your breasts. It feels weird but you get used to it. After looking at the time and more crying, you look in the kitchen. "Lets get you some water" you tell him. You don't want him to become dehydrated and pass out. Holding his hand, you guide him into the kitchen and let him sit down. Taking a gentle sip between cries, you rub his back as you stand next to him. Grabbing a chair, you sit down and place your hand on his shoulder.

"You want to call Jeremy?" You ask. Jeremy always made him feel better and always seemed to make him calm down faster. Michael nods, and you quickly dial Jeremy. Once you get ahold of him, you explain to him what was going on, and asks you to ask Michael if he was okay with him bringing Christine over since they were hanging out. Michael says yes after you ask, and Jeremy says he'll be over in ten minutes. You and Michael spent more time in the kitchen, then walked back to the living room to lay on the couch. He laid his head on your chest again while holding you as you stroke his hair and comfort him.

After seven minutes, the door opens, and Jeremy and Christine come to Michael and you in the living room. Michael gets up and hugs Jeremy and Christine while you sit upright on the couch. You all head downstairs once Michael is convinced by Jeremy to play video games. He really does a good job at cheering him up. Christine and you watch while making commentary and Michael finally smiles once he passes Jeremy in Mario Kart.

You check your phone once Christine and Jeremy leave, reading it as 4:00. You're happy that Michael has finally turned around and was happy for the rest of the day. You all played Apocalypse of the Damned, you and Christine playing together as the boys watched. You both seemed to get past level 9 faster than the boys had, probably because you watched them beat it and Christine was good at video games due to Jeremy introducing her to them. Once you saw the door close, you turned to Michael who was watching a movie with you, and smile as he laughs again. Leaning on his shoulder, you yawn and ask if you can sleep over again. He nods and tells you that his parents shouldn't mind since they're both out for the week; his mom was at her job at the hospital and would be working all night shifts while his dad was off away at his trip to New York and wouldn't come home until Friday. Today was Wednesday. You nod and continue watching the movie until you both head upstairs and fall asleep, you on the floor with a pillow and blanket while Michael sits up in his bed and stares out the window until he falls asleep at two in the morning. 


	6. Complicated Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Michael is out for the day, things between you and Jeremy gets a little complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAN IT'S BEEN LONG.  
> I'm so sorry the chapter has been taking so long to write! I've been smothered with work from my first quarter, the school musical this year, and my writing blog! I can't make any promises, but I can assure you guys that I'll try to keep up with some updates by next break in December.

Today seemed to be an off day. No work, no chores, no anything. Today you and Jeremy were hanging out since Michael went to Spencers again for cheap outdated soda. He said the guy in the back was getting him the original green bottle coke with some soda left. You couldn't imagine but feel as if he colored the glass and said it was the original by printing the design on it, or he really found a bottle and the soda was flat as hell. Anyways, you felt as if Michael was going to get scammed. Jeremy told you that the guy does seem suspicious, but he does give Michael what he has, no matter how rare and how expensive it could sell on eBay, and to whoever still uses it anyways. You and Jeremy were too busy playing another round of Apocalypse of the Damned on a new file to care. Right now you were both on level 3, since you both started a few minutes ago and the first levels were easy. Finally, after defeating the boss, Jeremy using a power booster, you both cheered as you beat the level and watched the screen go black, show the wording for level 4, but paused it as Jeremy got up and stretched. You became confused and looked to him who then looked back at you once he finished stretching. Normally, Jeremy never pauses to stretch until he's been killed in a level, or his dad gets home early and he wants to walk to him. 

"Is everything okay, Jer?" You ask him in a worried tone. "You never pause during the game." Jeremy looks at you and then to the screen. It did look like something was on his mind in that moment; every time he had something to ask, he paused, looked downwards and anxiously moved his feet and thumbs around from fidgeting. Jeremy then sat down, the game still paused and looked at you before taking the controllers before placing them to the side of him. 

"We're friends still, right?" He asks you. You immediately agree, telling him why you would ever want to stop being friends with Jeremy. He was honestly what you considered to be one of your best friends despite the events of what happened last year; you were never one to hold a grudge. After the events of Michael and Jeremy's small fallout, you were mad at Jeremy for a while but you could never bring yourself to hate him forever. After learning about the squip, you knew he was only doing it because the squip told him to. And if Michael forgave him, you sure as hell would've too. You look at Jeremy again who paused after your answer, and asks "Since we're friends, you wouldn't keep a secret from me, right?".

"Of course not Jeremy, you're one of the people who I could tell a secret to." You tell him. He took no pauses right then and there. It honestly took you by surprise when he asked,

"Do you like Michael?". You become shocked with the sudden question, and ask for him to repeat. As he asks again, you're certain he asked you if you liked Michael. It was now your turn to pause. Feeling uncomfortable with the situation, you try to take the controller, avoiding it all together. As Jeremy sees you try to grab the controller, he takes them away, and you two instantly get into a fight.

"Just tell me the truth!" He tells you. You then take the opportunity to pounce for the controllers, and miss, but land on top of Jeremy. With the controllers in sight, you reach for them, only to get flipped onto your back with your wrists pinned to the ground. You wish the situation would be awkward now rather than hateful. The last thing you would want to do is get into a fight with Jeremy. Although he was very weak and skinny, Jeremy was actually scary when he was angry; you remember getting into a fight with Jeremy last year a few days after he got out of the hospital, and you never wanted to get into a fight with him since. But here you were, laying on your back, his eyes piercing into yours while you look into his with hate, fear and a little but of regret. Breaking from his grip, you push him off, grab your coat and walk up the stairs. 

"Friends don't keep secrets, (Y/N)!" He yelled at you. You walk up the stairs and mean it to be a regular walk, but instead it looks as if you're running and stomping at the same time. You'd be lying to yourself if you said you didn't nearly trip on the third step to the door. Turning around to Jeremy, you look at him, him still angry at you.

"Yeah? Well now I can keep all the secrets I want from you, Heere! I'm done being your friend!" You scream before you leave the house. You get your car keys out of your red hoodie pocket, and unlock your car. Opening the door, you put your key into your ignition, and start up your car before leaving in an instant. As you drive off, you half expected to see Jeremy run out and yell at you more, but as you look in your mirror, you see no one in the Heere's yard. You then claim your focus back on the road, turn on the radio and continue driving until you reach a red light. Taking out your phone, you open up a playlist and plug in the aux cord, and turn off the station you were listening to and turn on the playlist titled "Cheer up". Before you can put your phone away, the light turns green. As it does, someone behind you honks and you roll down your window before flipping them off and driving. As you drive, you roll up your window, and can see the car switch lanes before going in front of you, flipping you off this time, and then speeding away. 

"Oh real fucking mature, Jere-" You begin, but stop yourself before you can say his name. You groan, and turn the volume up louder than it was. It was honestly so loud you wouldn't be surprised if someone in the nearby restaurant heard it. Finally, after two songs, well into your third one, you arrive home, and turn your phone off, unplugging the cord and take your keys out before leaving the car. You sigh as you take your keys with you into the house. As you stand at the door, testing the doorknob, you realize no one is home at the moment; no cars are left in the driveway, and the door is locked. But just to be sure, you ring the doorbell and wait a few minutes before taking out your keys and opening the door yourself. If anyone was home, they'd most likely answer the doorbell. As you walk into the house, you do a double check, yelling for someone. Seeing how no one answered, you sigh once more and walk into the kitchen to get yourself a snack before heading upstairs. As the steps creak, you look at your phone and check the messages Jenna sent you. 

'Hey you up for a mall trip?'  
'????'  
'You there?'

You stop at the fifth step you climbed and answer her back with a no thanks, giving her the excuse that you were doing something else. she answered back immediately with a response that always made you smile; it was a gif from the movie 'Mean Girls' with the famous line: Boo you whore. You smile and respond back with a funny gif, and head back upstairs, feeling a little bit better. You finally make it up the steps and walk down the hallway. Your room was all the way at the end, and whenever you would have a holiday that involved relatives coming over, they'd always hide in one of the rooms to scare you and your cousins. You remember they stopped once you turned fifteen where it just seemed to not work anymore. Walking down to the bedroom door, you open it and close the door behind you as you sit at your desk and place your phone down. After staying on your phone for a bit, you decide to lay down on your bed, and take out work. As you're about to go through last nights homework (which you finished for a Tuesday class), you hear your phone vibrate. Getting up, you walk to the phone and see a text from your family group chat, someone telling you to enjoy your hangout with Jeremy, while also promising to buy you some food later if you're hungry. 

You frown at the message, and text back what you hoped would seem like a normal message. If you could say it out loud, they'd defiantly notice your tone and ask if everything was alright. You plop yourself down in your chair, then stare at the phone. You remember that you showed up at Jeremy's house at seven in the morning, and just got into the fight at four in the afternoon. Checking the time now, it was five forty-five, and you were now starting to feel a little guilty about fighting with Jeremy. You realized how stupid the fight was; you might as well be considered little kids, because your end comment was something a five year old would say. Thinking back to the conversation, you realize how you both would've looked like five year olds in the eyes of someone if anyone was there; a five year old boy asks the five year old girl if she has a crush on anyone, and they end up getting physical with each other, and what does the girl say before she leaves? "I'm not your friend anymore!". You slap a hand to your face, and without knowing how, you have the phone up to your ear, already calling Jeremy. It surprised you how fast you managed to dial, but you keep the phone to your ear as it rings. As the call goes to voicemail, you hear some light tapping against your window, and call him again before heading to the window. You would assume it would be just a stick from the tree hitting the window, but as you look out, a pebble hits the window just as you peer to it.

Jeremy stands outside, waving to you. You point to your phone and manage to get him to understand to pick up his phone so you could understand him better. Your window was closed and you refused to let in any cold air through the screen. You call is finally answered by Jeremy, who then asks if you can come and talk to him if you're not still mad. You explain to him that you were calling him before because you wanted to make up, and you end up hanging up your phone, going downstairs and hugging Jeremy while crying; just like a five year old. You and him both apologize, and then bring him inside to talk. 

"I should've just left it at that. You didn't want to talk about it, and I should've kept it like that." He tells you. You then tell him back that you should've just answered. Answering Jeremy would've been easier; if you liked him, you liked him and Jeremy would've possibly helped out, and the discussion would've ended there. And if you said you didn't, Jeremy would be okay with it, and you'd go back to gaming quicker than if you said you did like Michael. But the truth is, you didn't even know if you like Michael. It was never really something you thought about obviously. You of course liked things about him, but never considered if you found it attractive, or just found it normal. You decide to tell Jeremy, and make things easier. You confess this to him, and he lets out an 'oh', signaling 'oh, i understand now'. You bring up your confusion on wether you like him or not, and ask if not liking him romantically is okay. Even anyone who didn't like him could agree he was somewhat attractive, and this is what confused you; if you found him attractive, does that mean you like him? Understanding your question, Jeremy brings up that you can still like Michael even if it's not romantically. It was true; you could like the way he laughed but not because you think it's cute, but maybe because it's nice to hear him laugh. After all, when you met him he was sad that his friend of twelve years left him abandoned in a bathroom. But there were more things you liked about Michael obviously. And you expressed this to Jeremy. 

"I mean, I enjoy his company, I like it when he buys me stuff, I think of something stupid and it reminds me of Michael. I also love the way he laughs whenever I tell him a stupid joke, when I think about where he's going and when he's going to come back goes through my head, and I always miss him whenever I don't see him for so long." You tell Jeremy. He looks at you, waiting for you to finish as you continue rambling. But as you continue, you stop mid sentence, then look to the floor. You then look to Jeremy, and down once more at your lap. You now realized you didn't like him, you loved him. 

You had a crush like a stupid five year old.


	7. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting home, Michael finds out that both of his best friends get more distant, causing him to do the same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that the update is EXTREMELY late! I may or may not have been goofing off and writing stupid stories with my friend. Anyways, I'll be back on my bs from now on! I have Midterms in a bit so I apologize if my story is late after

Michael didn't really expect anything different when he came back home; He expected Jeremy to be sitting in the basement with him, going on and off about Christine and how she took him to the park and then the zoo and then to get some ice-cream and "she called me cute when we walked home yesterday!" or something else like that. He expected (Y/N) to be blowing up his phone with memes, especially the new Knuckles one she didn't stop talking about. But when he got home, he didn't get any texts from either Jeremy or (Y/N). When he texted Jeremy, he didn't answer at all. He waited a few hours, and right as he was about to fall asleep, Jeremy sent him two texts.

"Sure what's up?"  
"Sorry, my wifi wasn't on all day"

Michael got up angry and confused. Jeremy was always online. He was either watching porn, other videos on youtube or just looking through Instagram and looking at posts on the discovery page. Michael just sent a simple "all right" text, and ended up staying up for a while, wondering why he would reply late. He wasn't obsessed with Jeremy and the way he texted, but knew something was off when he replied late and sent a sorry text. He ended playing some games in his basement for the night until he passed out and woke up to the sound of his phone going off to take his medication; his Matisse for glaucoma, and Luvox for depression. Michael was diagnosed with depression a week before puberty. He remembered a week after he started taking medication, he got pimples all over his cheeks. His mother told him he must have stress-breakouts like she did when she was his age. His glaucoma was way before his depression, and he couldn't even mark when he was diagnosed. All he could remember was that his doctor handed him eyedrops, and he hated them up until he turned 14. Michael placed his phone in his pocket after turning off the alarm and walked upstairs to get a cup of water for the pills and mentally prepared himself for the eyedrops. He still hated taking them, but was able to get more adjusted to it; he didn't flinch anymore when he took the drops at least, but blinked like crazy. After opening the basement door, he saw his mom taking a sandwich out of the fridge and put it on a plate before hearing Michael cough behind her. She became startled, and turned to let out a sigh when she saw her son. "Nearly gave me a heart attack, sweetie." She told Michael. She kissed his forehead, and took the plate off the counter before leaving. Michael's mom was a typical business woman, while his dad worked at a video game company, taking his place as a designer and tester for the new games to be released. Michael got into video games because of his dad, letting him test out the games from time to time when he let him come to the company. As Mrs. Mell took her sandwich, she called back to Michael about his medication, asking if he took it. She was crazy obsessed about wether or not he took it, and would ask during dinner if anything was running low on when things got quiet or awkward. Michael told her that he took his medicine today and that he might stop by Jeremy's house. "Dad already left?" Michael asked. His mother nodded and checked her watch before telling him she had to leave. He told her to have a good day, but before she could hear him she was already out the door, leaving Michael home to himself. In his head, he planned out his day; first, eat, then take a shower, get dressed, and head over to Jeremy's to see what's wrong. So, he first took out a bowl and poured some cereal in it. Walking towards the fridge, he saw the sticky note labeled, "Get moor OJ + Milk" with a little drawing of a zombie next to it, which made him groan. He checked the fridge to see a full carton of milk however, and checked the date before realizing that it went bad last month. Usually, Michael and his mom did shopping together, but after a few years, he did the shopping so he knew his mom left the note for Michael. Closing the fridge, he walked over to the table and ended up eating dry Cheerios with sugar on top of them. After finishing off his unsatisfactory breakfast, he then got ready for the shower. He had a shower down the hall rather than in his room, so he first went to his room first to get a towel and comb before hopping in and coming out an hour later. Once Michael was dried off, got dressed and did his hair for the day, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Walking out of the house with a pair of keys in his hands, he turned to close the door and walked towards his PT Cruiser. Once sitting down, he didn't bother to even turn on the radio to a good channel; he always had a Bob Marley channel linked in with the 1st button on the car's radio system, as he managed to find one while shuffling through music. He then drove down the block and waited anxiously at the light. As he did, he looked around for any police officers; whenever he was on this certain street, there was always a car in a parking lot waiting for someone to speed or pull out their phone. He remembered that once he took out his phone while at a light and was given a ticket.

He quickly texted Jeremy, and asked where he was. He was still obviously going to go to Jeremy's house because he knew if there was something wrong, he'd text him he was at his house, or with Christine at hers. Minutes later, just as he came down a few more blocks, his phone buzzed. At another light, he checked and he told him that he was with Christine at McDonalds, since it was one o'clock; every week, him and Christine would go on a date at one o'clock in the afternoon, or eight thirty at night depending if the other was busy or not. They would normally have it on Fridays during the summer, since Christine only had work and they would have an eight thirty date, or during Saturdays where both of them were free. Any day else seemed weird. Today just happened to be a Tuesday. 

Driving to his house quicker, he knew something was wrong. They would never have a date on Tuesday, because Jeremy had a night shift, and Christine was working today. She even sent him a text yesterday saying how she wasn't looking forward to work in the morning. Finally, after three more minutes of driving in a panic, Michael pulled up to Jeremy's house, parking sloppily and almost hitting the mailbox. He shut the door, locked it, and walked to the front. Knocking on the front, he noticed how it was already open, which lead to more panic. What if someone was holding him hostage? What if someone broke in the house and got a hold of his phone. Quickly going in, Michael texted (Y/N), wanting to get backup just in case. He walked to the basement and checked around for anyone there. There was no TV on, and by the time the message was sent, he heard a buzzing noise upstairs. He waited, and five minutes later, he got a text. 

"I'm home"

He was now officially freaking out. He was going to have a panic attack or anything worse that would make him feel like he's dying. He quickly but quietly ran upstairs, and after reaching the fifth step, he heard something he never would want to hear; crying. He heard someone crying, and it wasn't pretty. He didn't care anymore, and quickly dashed up the steps making as much noise as he could. If someone was in the house other than the Heeres, then he had his fists to defend him. Even though he wasn't as strong as Rich or Jake, he was defiantly going to try and defend himself. As he got to the next few steps, he was sure he blacked out because he had no memory of opening the door and finding his two best friends on the bed together, hugging. (Y/N) looked up at Michael while her face was buried in Jeremy's chest, and Jeremy had his arms wrapped around her. Michael grew confused, and had wide eyes. 

"(Y/N) oh my god are you okay? What happened?" Michael asked in a sincere voice. (Y/N) didn't answer and said it was nothing, but Michael continued asking what was wrong. She looked away, and placed her forehead on Jeremy's chest, and didn't even take a glance at him for a second. Looking back and forth between the two, no one found words. What was Jeremy supposed to say? He lied about being with Christine today, so if he began an argument with Michael, he would bring up the text. If (Y/N) even talked, she'd be too afraid to even let her voice crack from all the crying. So that left Michael to come up with something; if neither of them would talk, he would. So, he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"Why did you lie about being home today? Is there something going on between you and me? Did I fuck something up?" He asked both of them, but it seemed to be more directed towards (Y/N). Jeremy looked at (Y/N), then frowned. He whispered something in her ear, in which she just shook her head no. He nodded and got up to talk to Michael, since he left the bed and was now walking towards him. 

"What's going on?" Michael asked. Jeremy wanted to tell him, he wanted to so badly tell him. But it was agreed that it would be kept between him and (Y/N), unless (Y/N) wanted to bring Michael into this, which he doubted she would. Sighing, Jeremy looked at Michael. He thought it would be better to bring him out into the hallway to talk about this, since they both had to leave (Y/N) out of this. After minutes of silence and Michael becoming confused, Jeremy ripped off the bandaid and told him what both him and (Y/N) were thinking:

"Michael, I think you should go. She's upset and doesn't want to be around anyone else right now," Jeremy told him. Michael looked at him shocked. He never expected Jeremy to say something like this unless it was something serious. He always thought they were in on everything together. And if (Y/N) was upset he had a right to know. Looking at him, asking to stay with just a little move of his eye brows, lips, and glisten in his eyes, Jeremy looked away. "I'll tell you everything when she starts feeling better, I promise. But she needs to be alone right now." Jeremy finished. But he wasn't giving up; Michael called out to (Y/N) in the hallway, just asking for her name rather then calling for it. (Y/N) just looked up and looked away, telling him to just go. Michael looked hurt; out of all the people he's ever talked to, (Y/N) made him feel better especially when faced with separations of any kind. Looking at her, then back at Jeremy, he felt unwanted, and wanted to cry. Looking at the floor, he gave up and gave a simple 'I understand', and left in no hurry whatsoever. All he could do was tell Jeremy to make her feel better in anyway possible, and that he hoped she'd feel better. 

Out of all the things that he expected, this was one of the few things he didn't expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember kiddos; the best way to write a cliffhanger is to not let anyone know what comes next, not even yourself. 
> 
> (Jkjk I know what's coming next I just need to know how to write it. Expect the next chapter in a bit)


	8. Firey Details

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week after the confrontation with (Y/N), Michael decides to get to the bottom of what could be a potential fallout in their friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK (I've had work althroughout July, some summer reading plus ArtFight so I've been distracted for a while but I'm back on track).

It was offically a week ever since Jeremy told Michael to leave the house. By the time he got home that day, he practically smoked the entire bag of weed he got yesterday, which meant he would have to lay off of it for a while; he didn't want his parents and doctor suspecting him of abusing it. Michael smoked whenever he was stressed out, if he was bored, or if he just felt on the verge of breaking down. And at this point his whole world was shattering. It was hard to cope with no contact from either of his best friends, and wanted to apologize for something he didn't know he did. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he was sure it was his fault somehow, otherwise (Y/N) would be sending him memes as of now. She would always send memes after they got into any kind of an argument, and they'd make up afterwards with memes. Michael was always the first to send them, and she'd send back a wholesome kermit meme or a stupid trendy one an hour later. The longest she took to reply was three hours, but that was because her internet was down and she was at work. Michael sent one yesterday and Michael was now sitting on his bean bag chair, saddened by the fact that he was alone that day; his mom was off to work again, his father wouldn't be home for another hour, and Christine wasn't answering any of his texts. Finishing up a level of Apolcalypse of the Damned, Michael paused the game before the screen could flash into the next level, and walked up the steps to get something to drink. Opening the basement door, he walked straight into the kitchen, and grabbed a half empty water bottle off the counter. Looking at the top, his mother's inital of a P was on it; Michael's family, like any other, would label their water bottles with their first inital. Mrs. Mell's name was Paulina, and was the reason why Michael was Hispanic. His father was Samso, and was Michael's reason of being Basque. No one mixed up their water bottles this way, and it was way easier, cheaper, and more "eco-friendly" as his mom put it then getting those metal water bottles. Michael couldn't tell how many times he's lost a water bottle only to find over twenty underneath his bed covered in dust with maybe an ant crawling on the cap. As Michael went to the fridge to get another bottle, his phone buzzed, but he didn't pick it up right away; it could be an annoying game notification that drags you to play it, or it could be social media. Then it buzzed again. Getting suspicous, Michael kneeled down to grab the water bottle first and then place it on the counter. Then, taking out his phone from his hoodie pocket, Michael looked at the notifications. Just like he thought, there were just tumblr and instagram notifications. On tumblr, someone liked a photo he reblogged which caused him to open it and check it out; he hadn't used a tumblr ever since he was a Freshman. Looking at the picture, it was a cringey quote from 2011, causing him to laugh and be enlightened again.

Walking out of the kitchen, Michael placed his phone back in his pocket, and walked back up the stairs after grabbing his water bottle. He reached his room after walking up the flight quickly, and entered his room. Stepping over various dirty laundry he'd put on previously in order to go out and get pickup, Michael thought about doing some laundry and clean up his room. It would help him get his mind off of some things. Deciding to do so, Michael put on his white headphones and put in the plug into the phone's earphone jack, and shuffled his playlist before starting to clean up a bit. His songs were mainly Bob Marley, and maybe some rap songs he heard and got into whenever he was on 8tracks, listening to playlists. Right now, 'Send Me That Love' was playing through his headphones, which made Michael stop in his tracks. This was a song him and Jeremy would listen to whenever they hung out and Jeremy talked about Christine. He would play it to tease him, causing in some laughter. But it also reminded him of (Y/N). Why was he thinking of (Y/N)?

He then remembered last week with Jeremy and (Y/N), wondering what and why they were together in the same house, and just hugging; Jeremy never allowed anyone other than Christine to hug or hold his hand, and that was rare even (around other people at least). But (Y/N) was just hugging him like it was a natural thing to do, like Jeremy was welcoming her into his arms. Michael grew more confused as he thought about the situation, but then realized why would he be angry? Jeremy was most likely comforting (Y/N); she was crying when Michael came into the house. And even if something was going on between them, Jeremy would most likely act embarassed and try to play it off as if it never happened. But Jeremy was calm and collected even when telling Michael to leave the house. 

Picking up his phone, Michael scrolled through his contact list and looked at every contact, trying to decide who to call. Scrolling to the C's, Michael picked the third contact, called them, and made a plan to talk about his feelings to them. About an hour later, they pulled up in the driveway, and left for the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof this is short, but I hope you guys like it! Another update will come, and our confession chapter is closer than you know it!


End file.
